UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - 2020/21 SEASON MATCH PRESS KITS RB Arena - Leipzig Tuesday 20 October 2020 21.00CET (21.00 local time) RB Leipzig Group H - Matchday 1 İstanbul Başakşehir Last updated 29/10/2020 15:34CET UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE OFFICIAL SPONSORS Match background 2 Legend 5 1 RB Leipzig - İstanbul Başakşehir Tuesday 20 October 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit RB Arena, Leipzig Match background İstanbul Başakşehir make their debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage away at Leipzig, themselves relative newcomers to the competition albeit having reached last season's semi-finals on just their second appearance. • This is the pair's first ever meeting, little surprise given they have played only 64 European matches between them. Leipzig have four more games to their name than their Turkish rivals, who made their debut in continental competition in 2015/16 – two seasons before their German opponents. Form guide Leipzig • This is Leipzig's third UEFA Champions League group campaign, all in the last four seasons, and their fourth foray into European football overall. • The German club's 2019/20 campaign proved to be the most successful in Leipzig's brief European history, Julian Nagelsmann's side going all the way to the semi-finals. Leipzig picked up 11 points to finish first in their section – they had come third in their two previous group stage campaigns in UEFA competition – ahead of Lyon, Benfica and Zenit. • Leipzig then beat 2018/19 runners-up Tottenham in their first UEFA Champions League knockout tie (1-0 a, 3-0 h) before a 2-1 defeat of Atlético de Madrid in their one-off quarter-final in Lisbon. Paris Saint-Germain – who are also in Group H – proved too strong in the semi-finals, running out 3-0 winners. • Leipzig have won eight of their 16 UEFA Champions League fixtures (D3 L5). • Third in the Bundesliga for the second season in a row in 2019/20, this is Leipzig's fourth European campaign and only their 35th match. In 2017/18 they became the first team to make their European debut in the UEFA Champions League group stage. • This is Leipzig's third game against a Turkish club; they lost away (0-2) and at home (1-2) against Beşiktaş in 2017/18, the former their first away match in European football. • Last season's results made it three wins in seven home UEFA Champions League matches for Leipzig (D2 L2). İstanbul Başakşehir • İstanbul Başakşehir secured their first UEFA Champions League group stage appearance by last season becoming only the sixth club to lift the Turkish Süper Lig title. • The Turkish team have twice featured in UEFA Champions League qualifying, losing to Sevilla in the 2017/18 play- offs having beaten Club Brugge in the previous round, and going out to Olympiacos in the 2019/20 play-offs. • Başakşehir have won only one of their six matches in UEFA Champions League qualifying (D2 L3). • İstanbul Başakşehir made their European debut in the 2015/16 UEFA Europa League and have featured in every season since. • In 2019/20, after losing both legs against Olympiacos (0-1 h, 0-2 a), İstanbul Başakşehir went on to finish first in their UEFA Europa League section, picking up ten points to come out on top ahead of Roma, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Wolfsberg. They then produced a memorable comeback against Sporting CP in the round of 32 (1-3 a, 4-1 h aet), but were beaten in the last 16 by Copenhagen (1-0 h, 0-3 a). • İstanbul Başakşehir are the sixth Turkish club to appear in the UEFA Champions League group stage, after Galatasaray (16 appearances), Beşiktaş (7), Fenerbahçe (6), Bursaspor and Trabzonspor (both 1). • The Owls are one of four teams making their group stage debut in 2020/21; Midtjylland (Group D), Krasnodar and Rennes (both E) are the others. • İstanbul Başakşehir picked up their first win against German opposition in their most recent fixture, a 2-1 victory at Mönchengladbach in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage. That was their fourth game with a Bundesliga club; they lost 3-1 at Hoffenheim in the 2017/18 UEFA Europa League group stage and have drawn both home games against German visitors 1-1. • The Istanbul club have conceded three goals in losing each of their last two European away games, and have lost nine of their 15 away matches in Europe overall (W3 D3). A 3-0 win at Austrian club Wolfsberg in last season's UEFA Europa League is their sole away clean sheet; they have conceded 31 goals in those 15 away fixtures. Links and trivia • Fredrik Gulbrandsen scored Salzburg's winners in their victories against Leipzig away (3-2) and at home (1-0) in the 2018/19 UEFA Europa League group stage. 2 RB Leipzig - İstanbul Başakşehir Tuesday 20 October 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit RB Arena, Leipzig • Justin Kluivert scored home (4-0) and away (3-0) in Roma's victories against İstanbul Başakşehir in last season's UEFA Europa League group stage. • Alexander Sørloth scored a 90th-minute equaliser to earn Trabzonspor a 2-2 Turkish Süper Lig draw at İstanbul Başakşehir on 28 October 2019; Martin Škrtel had made it 2-1 to the home side. • Has played in Turkey: Alexander Sørloth (Trabzonspor 2019/20 (loan)) • Have played in Germany: Hasan Ali Kaldırım (Kaiserslautern 2006–09, Mainz 2009/10) Júnior Caicara (Schalke 2015–17) Danijel Aleksić (Greuther Fürth 2010/11 loan) Berkay Özcan (Karlsruhe 2012/13, Stuttgart 2013–19, Hamburg 2019) Meta Kaan Demir (Hannover 2016–19) Demba Ba (Hoffenheim 2007–11) • Hasan Ali Kaldırım (Neuwied), Berkay Özcan (Karlsruhe) and Mete Kaan Demir (Mainz) were all born in Germany. • Have played together: Péter Gulácsi & Martin Škrtel (Liverpool 2008–2013) Kevin Kampl & Danijel Aleksić (Greuther Fürth 2010/11) Konrad Laimer, Dayot Upamecano & Fredrik Gulbrandsen (Salzburg 2016/17) Hee-chan Hwang, Amadou Haidara & Fredrik Gulbrandsen (Salzburg 2016–19) Hee-chan Hwang & Berkay Özcan (Hamburg 2019) Benjamin Henrichs & Nacer Chadli (Monaco 2018/19) Tyler Adams & Fredrik Gulbrandsen (New York Red Bulls 2017) • International team-mates: Alexander Sørloth & Fredrik Gulbrandsen (Norway) • Marcel Sabitzer's penalty gave Austria a 2-1 UEFA Nations League victory away to Sørloth's Norway on 4 September. Latest news Leipzig • Summer transfers In: Alexander Sørloth (Crystal Palace), Hee-Chan Hwang (Salzburg), Josep Martínez (Las Palmas), Lazar Samardžić (Hertha Berlin), Benjamin Henrichs (Monaco, loan), Justin Kluivert (Roma, loan) Out: Timo Werner (Chelsea), Ademola Lookman (Fulham, loan), Hannes Wolf (Mönchengladbach, loan), Frederik Jäkel (Oostende, loan), Mads Bidstrup (Brentford), Yvon Mvogo (PSV, loan), Tom Krauss (Nürnberg) • Leipzig's first competitive match in 2020/21 was a 3-0 win at 2. Bundesliga side Nürnberg in the first round of the German Cup on 12 September, Hee-Chan Hwang scoring on his debut. • Leipzig kicked off their Bundesliga campaign with a 3-1 against Mainz on 20 September before a 1-1 draw in Leverkusen the following week. • On 3 October Leipzig prevailed 4-0 against Schalke to go top of the Bundesliga table, and maintained that position with Saturday's 2-0 victory at Augsburg. • Angeliño has scored in Leipzig's last two matches, the first time the 23-year-old has found the net in successive matches in his professional career. • Three days after his debut for France in the UEFA Nations League in Sweden, Dayot Upamecano scored his first goal in a 4-2 win against Croatia on 8 September. • Willi Orban was on target for Hungary in a 3-1 win in Bulgaria in the UEFA EURO 2020 semi-final play-offs on 8 October. • On 11 October Sørloth scored in Norway's 4-0 UEFA Nations League win against Romania. • Marcel Sabitzer is yet to play in the Bundesliga this season having sustained a thigh injury on 24 September, although he has returned to light training. • A knee injury has sidelined Konrad Laimer since 18 August; he underwent surgery in mid-September and is also back in light training. • Ibrahima Konaté underwent hip surgery on 24 July, returning to team training on 21 September; he was an unused substitute at Augsburg. 3 RB Leipzig - İstanbul Başakşehir Tuesday 20 October 2020 - 21.00CET (21.00 local time) Match press kit RB Arena, Leipzig • Yussuf Poulsen extended his contract until 2024 on 3 October. İstanbul Başakşehir • Summer transfers In: Berkay Özcan (Hamburg, loan made permanent), Okechukwu Azubuike (Pyramids), Hasan Ali Kaldırım (Fenerbahçe), Ravil Tagir (Altınordu), Rafael (Lyon), Nacer Chadli (Monaco), Boli Bolingoli (Celtic, loan), Deniz Türüç (Fenerbahçe, loan), Giuliano (al-Nassr) Out: Robinho (released), Gaël Clichy (released), Eljero Elia (Utrecht), Miloš Jojić (Partizan), Gökhan Inler (Adana Demirspor), Joseph Attamah (Kayserispor), Aziz Behich (Kayserispor, loan), Alican Özfesli (Boluspor, loan), Furkan Soyalp (Gaziantep), Atabey Çiçek (Westerlo, loan), Doğanay Kılıç (Kahramanmaraşspor), Miguel Vieira (Waasland- Beveren, loan) • İstanbul Başakşehir got their first win of the new Turkish season at the fifth attempt on Saturday, winning 2-0 at Trabzonspor. • The Turkish champions now have two wins in their last nine matches in all competitions (D1 L6). • İstanbul Başakşehir's title defence kicked off with three successive 2-0 defeats, before a goalless draw at home to Göztepe on 3 October got their first point on the board. • İrfan Can Kahveci's 32nd-minute opener at Trabzonspor on Saturday thus ended a run of four games without a goal for İstanbul Başakşehir; they had not scored for 402 minutes in the league, going back to the final game of 2019/20. • Having lost 3-0 at Copenhagen in last season's UEFA Europa League round of 16 second leg on 5 August, their final fixture of the campaign, İstanbul Başakşehir were five games without a goal in all competitions before getting two on Saturday.